Explosion hits fertilizer plant north of Waco, Texas

this is a discussion within the Everything Else Community Forum; CNN) -- An explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant Wednesday night in the area of West, Texas, sending a massive fireball into the sky and causing dozens of injuries, officials said.
A number of nearby residents were being evacuated because ...

CNN) -- An explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant Wednesday night in the area of West, Texas, sending a massive fireball into the sky and causing dozens of injuries, officials said.

A number of nearby residents were being evacuated because of the possibility of another explosion, officials said.

A hospital in nearby Waco, Texas, has been told to anticipate 100 injured people coming in from the fertilizer plant area, an official at the medical facility said.

Glenn Robinson, CEO of Hillcrest Hospital, said a field triage station was being set up on a football field near the plant some 18 miles north of Waco after the Wednesday night explosion.

"We have had a steady flow of patients coming in by ambulance as well as by private vehicles," Robinson told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

More than 60 patients were received as of 10 p.m. (11 p.m. ET), Robinson said, suffering from "blast injuries, orthopedic injuries (and) a lot of lacerations. While some of the injuries are minor, others are "quite serious," he said.

Hazardous material teams were being rushed to the scene, an emergency management official said.

At least six helicopters are going to fly out those who are injured, Robinson said. Others are being transported by ambulance, and some are getting to the hospital by car, he added.

Two other hospitals in the region were also assisting.

As many scrambled to assist the injured, another danger seemed to emerge Wednesday night.

"What we are hearing is that there is one fertilizer tank that is still intact at the plant, and there are evacuations in place to make sure everyone gets away from the area safely in case of another explosion," said Ben Stratmann, a spokesman for Texas State Sen. Brian Birdwell.

Photos of the explosion -- which reportedly happened around 7:50 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET) -- showed a huge blaze and flames leaping over the roof of a structure and a plume of smoke rising high into the air.

The West Fertilizer Plant is just north of Waco. A school and a nursing home are among the buildings near the plant, CNN affiliate KWTX reported.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he is aware of the explosion, a spokesman said, and was working to get resources into the area.

Tommy Alford, who works in a convenience store about three miles from the plant, told CNN that several volunteer firefighters were at the store when they spotted smoke. Alford said the firefighters headed toward the scene and then between five and 10 minutes later, he heard a massive explosion.

"It was massive; it was intense," Alford said.

Chrystal Anthony, a nearby resident, said she saw the flames engulf a nursing home and an apartment complex.

"It was an apartment complex that was devastated, the nursing home. The fire was close to a residential area," Anthony said.

"It was like a bomb went off," said Barry Murry, a resident who lives about a mile away from the plant. "There were emergency vehicles everywhere. It has been overwhelming."

West, Texas, is a community of about 2,800 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sitting about 75 miles south of Dallas and 120 miles north of Austin, West is one of 22 incorporated communities in McLennan County.

As many as 60 to 70 people may have been killed in a fertilizer plant explosion on Wednesday night in West, Texas, KWTX reported. West EMS Director Dr. George Smith told the TV station that hundreds of people were also injured in the blast.

Tommy Muska, West's mayor, said at a news conference that the exact number of deaths was still unknown. However, buildings in a five-block radius from the plant were severely damaged by the explosion, Muska said.

Cause of the blast has not yet been determined.

Emergency crews, who were dispatched from throughout central Texas, are now being forced to pull back due to concerns of a second explosion. Several firefighters and other first responders have suffered injuries, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.

The first call came in at approximately 7:50 p.m. Several injuries were reported at the plant, which is located near Waco, and a request was made for multiple ambulances. KWTX also reported several buildings were destroyed and a nearby nursing home was damaged.

According to CBS DFW, several residents in the nursing home and a nearby apartment building were injured.

West ISD, the public school district in West, announced on Twitter that all schools will be closed for the rest of the week. Authorities in the area are also reportedly advising residents to leave town immediately.

Police say between five to fifteen people were killed and more than 160 were injured in a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas, late Wednesday.
The explosion at West Fertilizer in downtown West — a community of roughly 2,600 residents about 20 miles north of Waco — happened around 8 p.m. and could be heard as far away as Waxahachie, a town located 45 miles north. It sent flames spiraling high into the evening sky and rained burning embers, shrapnel and debris down on frightened residents.
"They are still getting injured folks out and they are evacuating people from their homes."
- Waco Police Department Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton
A member of the city council, Al Vanek, said a four-block area around the explosion was "totally decimated." Other witnesses compared the scene to that of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and authorities said the plant made materials similar to that used to fuel the bomb that tore apart that city's Murrah Federal Building.
The USGS reported that the blast registered a 2.1 on the Richter scale.

The pope is using his Twitter account to ask followers to pray for victims of a fatal fertilizer plant explosion in a small Texas town.
In a message posted Thursday morning, Pope Francis said: "Please join me in praying for the victims of the explosion in Texas and their families."
The newly installed pontiff's Twitter page shows he's posted 18 tweets in the past month.
Authorities say a massive fire and explosion at a downtown fertilizer plant in West killed as many as 15 people Wednesday evening and injured more than 160 others. Several firefighters are still missing.

The images emerging from Wednesday's fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas are reminiscent of the Texas City disaster - an April 16, 1947 explosion that killed more than 500 people.

That tragedy involved a ship filled with ammonium nitrate fertilizer. A fire broke out, and crew members - who didn't want to ruin the cargo with water - decided to suppress the flames by fastening the ship's hatches, keeping oxygen from fueling the flames.

But due to the ammonium nitrate, the fire didn't need oxygen. The flames grew and eventually a massive explosion occurred, turning the town into instant debris - and sending a shock that was felt 250 miles away, according to the Moore Memorial Public Library in Texas City. A second explosion occurred the next morning, causing further damage for the devastated area.

The Texas City disaster remains the nation's deadliest industrial accident. Now, nearly 66 years to the day, another industrial tragedy has befallen Texas - leaving another community leveled, shocked, devastated.